A fire roared through a central Paris hotel early today, killing at least 16 people - six of them children - and injuring dozens more, fire officials said.

A witness said he saw several hotel guests leap from windows to escape the flames.

The fire occurred in the one-star Paris Opera hotel in the capital's 9th district, an area frequented by tourists. At least 55 people were injured, 13 seriously, said fire services spokesman Laurent Vibert. Many of the guests were African, he said.

Firefighters rescued some people, but others jumped from windows to escape flames and smoke.

Chakib San, who lives in an adjacent building, said he was awakened by cries of "Fire!" He said he saw three people jump from low floors of the six-storey building, including a woman and a child who lay motionless after hitting the ground. "Everyone was screaming," he said. "There were bodies in the road."

The injured were treated and the dead bodies temporarily stored in the famous Galaries Lafayette department store.

The fire took more than an hour to bring under control and was still smouldering hours later. Some 250 firefighters and 50 fire engines responded. Nearly all of the six floors were blackened inside.

Many guests were African, but there were also at least three Canadians in the hotel, one of whom was slightly injured.

Police said the injured came from France, the US, Portugal, Senegal, Tunisia, Ukraine and Ivory Coast. The nationalities of the dead were not given.

The fire is believed to have started in a second floor breakfast room.

Mr San said he spoke to Australians, Canadians and Tunisians who escaped. A woman who works in a nearby hotel brought out a ladder and together they used it to rescue a girl from the first floor.

"We got out a little girl. The fire services arrived just afterward," he said.